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Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Star Wars Armada Tactica - Dangerous Territory

Dangerous Territory

This objective can be a blank card. Both players control the same number of objective tokens. All the tokens are with the same number of points. Sure your opponent will take some damage by going over the obstacles, but nothing an engineering order or two won’t fix. In the end the typical result is a points push, and no net benefit to you.

So, why take this objective? Why even bother to talk about it?

Because if you’re willing to play with a go big or go home mindset, then you can really make your opponent’s life miserable. This objective forces players to suffer damage and take specific orders on turns one and two to mitigate that damage. Most players plan their first and second turns as token gathering and positioning turns, so forcing them out of their routine can help throw them off balance for the duration of the battle.

Lets look at the battle strategies that can turn this Plain Jane into a Betty Bruiser.
1) As second player, you want to take the station and place it on your side of the board.
2) Take the debris fields. The face up damage cards dealt by asteroids are a lot more punishing, and they cardboard pieces themselves are a lot smaller. This will help you predict where your opponent’s ships will be for one of the below strategies.
3) Remember you can overlap multiple obstacles and claim multiple tokens each turn. So, if you’re using this objective with a large base ship you have a lot of options.

Bumper Cars

The old corvette spam can ruin your opponent’s day with this objective. (Remember Flotillas don’t inflict damage onto ships they bump.) You just have to get into position so they keep landing on the obstacle. The damage from the obstacle along with the damage from repeatedly ramming you will slowly reduce them to space dust. I like the tactic best with Tarkin and Raiders/Gladiators because you can spam engineering orders to reduce the amount of damage cards on your opponent’s ships. The Raider’s front arc is well suited for the constant bombardment, and you can up the damage by giving each ship Ordnance Experts and Expanded Launchers. The downside is if you’re facing an ISD list, you’re fighting a losing battle. The ISD will destroy a Raider in a turn or two and most likely shrug off the damage.

The Rebels can do well with Rieekan zombies list here using the same parking lot strategy.

Fighter Balls

The objectives need to be far enough into the table to give you time to push your fighters against their wounded fleet. Fighter balls vary quite a bit these days, but even a modest fighter force can be fatal in this situation simply by forcing the opponent to play wounded. Most players will stack engineering orders to heal up, which leaves them without the navigation orders they may need to outmaneuver your onslaught. While taking one face up damage card is rough, watching Luke bomb damage onto the weakened hull is terrifying. Even medium base ships like Gups have to worry after a few damage cards that one good shot from an ISD or Home One could end their game much earlier than they planned.

Blitz

If you like ISDs or MC30c and high-risk high-reward game play, you can scare the piss out of most opponents. The idea here is to engage them fast and hard with a lot of dice, similar to the sort of craziness brought on by CloneTrooper’s list in the Vassal tournament. Rather than playing bumper cars, you’re looking to swoop in on a target that isn’t ready for the battle and pile on the damage.

Victories for Victory

Victories work well with the objective if flown correctly. Your opponent has to telegraph their starting locations and general flight plan, which allows you to place your VSDs with more confidence that they’ll see battle. It’s still risky with those lovable lumberers, but it’s a much easier way to make it work.

There aren’t a ton of must takes with this list. In terms of upgrades, Engine Techs can help you get into position to keep your opponent’s ships on those obstacles. Tractor Beams can help further disrupt your opponent’s overall plans and keep them stuck on an asteroid for one more turn. If you’re a Rebel player, Luke makes even more of an impact than normal on this objective as low hull ships might die without losing a single shield.

Finally, there are a few obvious choices for commanders that compliment this objective: Ackbar for the increased attack, Dodonna to help choose the most devastating crit, and Rieekan or Motti to soak hull damage.

I hope this was somewhat helpful and informative. Until next time—She’s Got Admiral Ackbar Eyes.

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I've been collecting and painting models since I was about 12 years old. My painting improved dramatically after a short stint working for Games Workshop. I'm always looking for the next challenge and the next skill I can learn.